Aid or debt relief option

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The Bush Administration will make tsunami-hit countries choose
between long-term debt relief and other US aid.

Undersecretary of State Alan Larson told a House of
Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee: "There will be a
trade-off for them between debt relief and other types of
assistance we might be able to offer them."

It was not clear whether the aid Mr Larson referred to included
a tsunami package of as much as $US1 billion ($A1.3 billion) that
President George Bush is expected to seek from Congress.

Countries seeking the short-term debt relief agreed by the Paris
Club of creditor nations will not have to make such a choice.

The United States is one of the 19 members of the Paris Club
that will provide an initial three-month debt moratorium for the
affected countries. Decisions about longer-term help will be made
after the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have assessed
each country's needs, the Paris Club said.